Gloria Swanson’s New Jersey Mansion!

Gloria Swanson’s New Jersey Mansion!

Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. was well known for his wealth, business smarts, politics, patriarch of America’s “Royal” family, JFK’s father, and his womanizing. It was during his business dealings with the Hollywood film studios that he entered into an affair with film-star Gloria Swanson, for whom he bought this stunning New Jersey mansion, Gloria Crest. Having been placed on the market several times with no takers, it is now back with an almost 75% discount - listed at $9.9 million.

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As the son of an Irish farmer, who immigrated to the United States to escape the famine in Ireland, Kennedy grew up as an Irish-Catholic outsider on the streets of Boston. He struggled to get a job in finance where he was shunned and picked over in favor of less-skilled Protestants. But make it he did and through his Wall Street stock smarts, buying and flipping Hollywood film studios and impressive real estate collection, Kennedy acquired massive wealth. He was a multimillionaire by the age of 40 and by 1938 was the first head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. A good friend of President Franklin Roosevelt, Kennedy was appointed Ambassador to England in 1938. It was while he was investing in films and diversifying his investments into Hollywood movie studios that he met silent-screen star Gloria Swanson and began a heavily publicized affair with her that lasted for three years. During that time he bought this New Jersey mansion for her so that he could see her without having to travel to the West Coast.

Built in 1926 by Count Stefan Poniatowski, heir to the Polish throne and silk manufacturer, the eight-bedroom, fourteen-bath home was designed to resemble an Italian villa in the Renaissance Revival style with three-story towers on each end of the building. Encompassing 24,000 square feet on five acres of land, the home stood out in the well-to-do community and was often referred to as the White House of Englewood. Totally private and gated, the grounds are surrounded by a 10-foot wall with large expanses of lawn, mature trees and plantings, a lake with waterfall and cabana, an orchard and an infinity pool and spa surrounded by terraces for entertaining. There is also an eight-car garage and plenty of guest parking. The entry opens to a grand marble foyer with double staircases leading to the next level. There are multiple living rooms, one with a stone fireplace, formal dining, a large chef’s kitchen with floating island, impressive stained-glass ceiling, dining area and arches that open to the terrace. The three-room master suite has a sitting area and fireplace, a bath with marble soaking tub and separate shower. Additional amenities include a home theater, private gym, and a home office.

With its prestige and proximity to Manhattan, Englewood has been home to authors Upton Sinclair and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, actor and musician David Cassidy, Forbes publisher Malcom Forbes and actresses Sara Jessica Parker and Brooke Shields.

The elegant and updated New Jersey mansion once gifted to Gloria Swanson by Joseph Kennedy, Sr. is back on the market after an approximate 75% reduction in price from the original listing. Now priced at $9.9 million, the listing agent is Michelle Pais of Signature Realty, Westfield, New Jersey.

Photo credit: Signature Realty

Source: thegloriacrestestate.com